May 22, 1998 - The historic Arts and Heritage building in St. Peter is about to come down. It will be demolished due to lack of money to repair extensive tornado damage sustained March 29th. As Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports, the building will leave the largest hole yet in St. Peter as residents continue recovery efforts. Some say that every resident in St. Peter has a connection to the old Central School building, known more recently as the Arts and Heritage Center. Built in 1870, the building served as a school for over one hundred years, the longest any school building has continuouly held classes in the state of Minnesota. So it seems many residents or their parents or
May 13, 1998 - A largely unpublicized clause in the welfare reform act is causing problems for some of the people trying to rebuild their lives in post-tornado St Peter. While most residents were covered by federal disaster relief programs, some are now finding out they are not.
May 7, 1998 - Recovery from a natural disaster takes time. Sometimes years. Since the tornado hit southern Minnesota last March, people across the region have been working to make life normal, or at least comfortable. Over the next few months we will be visiting with some of the people of St Peter, to see how they are doing. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman went back to meet cafe owner Tom Gravelin who is now living in a FEMA trailer. Tom Gravelin knows a lot of people in St. Peter. Those he knows best are artists, writers, and musicians...people who until recently had their own studios. Now they're knocking on the door of th
April 29, 1998 - Each day there's another boarded up window reglazed after nailed into place in Saint Peter. But complete recovery from the tornado last month is a long way off. While many residents are concerned with the immediate work... some are looking to the longer term future. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports. The clean-up was easy. Hundreds of people from all over the state came to cart away the debris from the streets of Saint Peter. It happened so fast people were shocked the city looked so good so soon after the tornado. But clean-up is not rebuilding, and that is what Saint Peter
April 24, 1998 - It's Arbor Day today... the day when we celebrate trees... maybe even plant a few. This year it has special significance in St. Peter. A few days ago some unknown poet, stuck a piece of paper to an old cottonwood tree in the town. The words are a testament to the tremendous loss St. Peter has faced since the tornado. "This is torture! Everywhere I go, all my favorite trees gone! Even so, everyday it's something new, another busted up old house bulldozed, another mangled old tree dropped. And even though I know it's coming, to see it is like being kicked in the chest, it just takes the wind out of me...... But here you stand! What a monument to survival. Where i
April 24, 1998 - A few days ago some unknown poet, stuck a piece of paper to an old cottonwood tree in Saint Peter. The words are a testement to the tremendous loss the town has faced since the tornado. "This is torture! Everywhere I go, all my favorite trees gone! Even so, everyday it's something new, another busted up old house bulldozed, another mangled old tree dropped. And even though I know it's coming, to see it is like being kicked in the chest, it just takes the wind out of me...... But here you stand! What a monument to survival. Where in the storm's path is another living thing so massive yet standing? The old cottonwood came down yesterday. A crowd of people stood and watched...waiting for the fall. Minnesota Public Radio's Lyne
April 22, 1998 - Most public iunstitutions have a lost and found area. But the lost and found table at the Treaty Site History Center in St Peter is a much more special than most. It has boxes...each one with a paper stuck to it's front reading baby pictures, travel pictures, or old sepia pictures. There's a wedding dress marked "Jenny." Since the tornado last month, the history center has become the drop-off point for personal belongings taken into the tornado's winds. For many people who are rebuilding their lives, the found items are important links to their past. Minnesota Pubilc Radio's Lynette Nyman has this report.
April 20, 1998 - Moms and dads with their children...old volvo wagons stuffed with lamps and boxes....it was like the beginning of a new school year on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College Sunday. Three weeks after the tornado hit saint peter, hundreds of students returned to the campus. For many, it was their first time back since they departed for spring break before the storm. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman has this report. 11:58 sfx a voice saying "when they pull up to the resident hall, you go right up to the car, you pull them out of the cars, give them a hug, say hey we're glad you're back. what can we help with.
April 17, 1998 - As people in southern Minnesota begin to rebuild after last months tornado, many of them are reflecting on what has happened and what it all means. In the coming months Minnesota Public Radio will follow the recovery from some very personal points of view. Today we meet Nancy Jordet who talked to Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman. Nancy Jordet is many things...a business owner, artist, mother, and wife. There's usually conviction and confidence in her face. But since the tornado hit Saint Peter, people who know her have noticed her eyes have been filled with concern. Her graphic design business had to move to a so
April 16, 1998 - The first FEMA trailer was delivered Wednesday to a rural homestead in southern minnesota. Around one hundred trailers are expected to become homes for tornado victims while they rebuild. Many of the trailers were temporary housing for people displaced by the Red River Floods. Minnesota Public Radio's Lynette Nyman reports. The trailer sitting behind the two-story farm house of Rita and Tom Anderson looks almost new. It was cleaned up before being towed from Grand Forks. 16:46 sfx entering the trailer